Dawn of the Dead (2004) – Review

What may be blasphemy in the Romero-verse, I find the remake of Dawn of the Dead to be a better time than the original. Featuring a similar plot, this script goes a bit more serious and maintains the psychological edge of the 70s version, while presenting some tense zombie-filled action. Let’s check it out.

Ana Clark (Polley) is at the end of her shift as a nurse, and a very long and strange day. What began as a typical day for her turned into a hectic evening as strange animal bites and wounds start rolling in along with a few reports of people acting erratically. A bit unsettling for sure, but in reality, nothing too wild for a night in a city hospital.

She putters home and goes to bed next to her already asleep husband. When she wakes, life will be forever different. After an intense revelation, Ana finds herself alone and on the run in a world full of danger. As she collides with a rough and rugged cop Sergeant Kenneth Hall (Rhames), the duo trudge along together before winding up at the local mall with a few other survivors. Will this be enough to form some kind of plan, or is everyone out of luck in this ugly apocalypse?

I saw this film in theaters when it released and it was a blast, and has always stuck with me since then. I really liked that experience, but going back to it today still usually proves to be a good time. This is majorly due to a very good James Gunn script that reflects a simple update to the Romero original while packing in a bunch of memorable characters. Who could forget what goes down with Andre (Phifer) and his girl Luda (Korobkina)? Daaaayyaaaaaamnnnn.

So, a script full of solid dialogue, developed characters, stand-out roles for actors, and a good pacing set the director up for some of his best career work. Snyder for me usually does a decent job with the presentation elements of his films, but how much I like the experience is always tied to what script he is working with and the focal points he hits. This time it all works together strongly as survival, psychological madness, action, tension, suspense, bits of comedy, gnarly zombies, and slick camera work cohesively nail the atmosphere.

A wild opening, a great setting, intriguing characters (good, bad, annoying or otherwise), a well-paced plot and a lot of hungry zombies make for a really good time in Dawn of the Dead. I enjoy this film from front to back quite a bit and think it is a great debut for director Zack Snyder.

There is a “Director’s Cut” which features about 9 additional minutes of gore, psychological insanity and envelope pushing scenes along with a few more character-building tidbits. While I do prefer the extended cut, they really aren’t all that different.